Starter camera for sports?(boarding)

[SwoonUnit]

Im starting to get into photography and plan on taking a class at my school this summer. I have a bunch a friends who long board and really want me to be their photographer and I was wondering what would be a good overall camera and would be good for capturing at some quick rates. I had a friend recommend me a Nikon D3000, any recommendations? (Also lenses would be great as well)

 

[goodguy]

I am not an expert and sport shotting is really not my thing but you will need a camera with a fast burst rate and as important a good long zoom lens with vibration reduction in it.
Good cameras for sport will be the Canon 7D, Nikon 300S and the new Nikon D7100.
These cameras are not the cheapst but you will find the lenses if you want to get serious are even more expensive.
Still worth the investment if you want to get serious in this as a hobby or as a pro in the future.

 

[KmH]

Shooting from the beach will put you and the camera a long way from the action, unless your friends will be riding a shore break.

Even with a 300 mm focal length you will have to heavily crop photos to scale up your friends. Cropping magnifies any image quality or focusing issues so ot helps if the original is well made.
Image quality utimately falls to photographer skill and knowledge.

Nikon's best lens value is their Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF VR Nikkor Zoom Lens.
Used or factory refurbished versions of that lens are available to help lower the cost.

For more 'reach', a good lens value is the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

When using long reach lenses, having the camera/lens mounted on a monopod is helpful.

For a starter camera look at the Nikon D5100 16.2MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch Vari-Angle LCD Monitor (Body Only)
or with a 18-55 mm kit lens
Nikon D5100 16.2MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
Again used and refurbished D5100 kits are available.

 

[table1349]

Shooting from the beach will put you and the camera a long way from the action, unless your friends will be riding a shore break.

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Longboarding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


You have got to get out of Iowa once in a while.

 

[KmH]

I used to live in California, and some surfers use Longboards (Guns, floaters). VA has beaches.
Click on images to see use licensing and/or public domain statements.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfboards

Longboard

A longboard.​

Duke Kahanamoku and longboard, 1920​

Balsa Longboard.​

The longboard, not to be confused with the skateboard variation of Longboarding, is primarily a single finned surfboard with large rounded nose and length of 9 to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 m). Noseriders are a class of longboards which enable the rider to walk to the tip and nose ride. Also called a "Mal", which is a shortened version of Malibu, one of, if not the most popular longboard wave.
Longboards (also known as Malibu boards) range 8 to 14 feet (2.4 to 4.3 m) long, or 3 feet (0.91 m) taller than the rider in overall length. Its advantage is its substantial buoyancy and planing surface, which enables most surfers using it to ride waves generally deemed too small to propel a shortboard, as well as anything else. Longboards are universally common among both beginners and skilled surfers alike. The main reason why longboards are more suitable for beginners is because of the board's size and frequency of catching waves. In the proper conditions, a skilled surfer can ride a wave standing on the nose of a longboard, and put his toes over the nose's edge. By literally putting his "toes on the nose" the surfer can "hang ten".